Knight Templar 1120-1312 (Warrior)

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Summary: Everything factual about the Order of the Knights Templar
Review: Helen Nicholson is "Reader in History" at Cardiff University, one of Britain's major teaching and research universities. She specializes in the history of Military Orders and this book captures the history of the Knights Templar in a very easy to read and clearly written manner.

This book covers the actual history, not any of the myths or legends, of the Order of the Temple. The time period covered is from the first band of warriors who asked for approval of their idea from the Council at Nablus to the end of the order in the early 14th century after charges of heresy and witchcraft damaged the order's reputation beyond repair.

The book's main focus is the order itself. Covered topics are "Recruitment and Admission" covering how one joined the order and how membership was recruited based on skills, position and the need of the order. The focus was on protection of Catholic Christians and membership reflected the need for well trained knights, who held the higher status. This also covers purpose of the order, locations of the order, housing and communities, age of members, other support positions and retirement.

The "Beliefs and Belonging" section covers the basic beliefs, the order as monks and their duty to God, their vows, their purpose and how it interplayed with various cultures and other religious beliefs, notations of the order in books, personal writings, and artistic images. Ms. Nicholson builds up the picture so that we can better understand what the intended purpose of the order was and what the order developed into.

In the "Training" and "Appearance and Equipment" sections we are given a very detailed look at what the order placed focus on. While training was not emphasized, it was understood that knights came trained and everyone else learned along the way. We are also given insight into what the order required for each knight and servant to wear and use. From their undergarments to the way to ride a horse, every element of everyday life was spelled out for the monks and they were expected to adhere to these rules and regulations.

"Living Conditions: on campaign" gives us the military dress for the Templars, garrisons, chapels, castles and fortresses and further extends our look into the culture of the Templar order. We also have the "Experience of Battle", outlining the history of the Templar campaigns, their successes and their defeats from a variety of sources.

Also discussed in brief are museums and re-enactment groups of modern day.

While the history is easy to understand, well explained and details are not overlooked, the book benefits greatly from the addition of graphic works of art by Wayne Reynolds. Wonderful color plates of costume, armor and armament, and battle depictions give us very clear idea of Templar everyday life. Black and white photos of places, castles, illuminated manuscripts, order seals and old wood blocks help to visually fill in and add to our understanding of what life and culture was like in the Levant at the time the Order of the Templar Knights. There is also a chronology table that enables us to fill in at a glance where the Templar Knights are placed in respect to Crusader history and what important dates and events corresponded directly to the Crusades.

This book easily fills in some gaps left by general texts and would be very helpful in student research on The Crusades. The easy to understand style and the excellent graphics and choices of illustrations also makes this a book that can be used by any students from the 6th grade on up. Those older students who are not familiar with the topic will find this just as useful as a basic primer for their class term papers.

Again, this is an excellent book covering the military aspects and culture of the time and the Knights Templar Order. A must have in any school library. Medievalcrusadesbabe